Re: Pearl Jam

Originally Posted by luckyface

Binaural may not have been their strongest, but it had its moments.

Absolutely. Light Years might be the best Pearl Jam song to listen to that really sums up what they do best. It really has that vibe that a lot of their best songs have, even if it might not be one of them. Grievance is amazing, and Thin Air is among their best slower songs. And yeah, what Adam said about Of the Girl as an opener.

Re: Pearl Jam

so bummed i missed this weekend. i was at their 10th anniversary show, and thought for sure i'd be at their 20th too. but the way they planned it was just fucked and made it pretty impossible for me. oh well...always PJ30 to look forward too!

Re: Pearl Jam

I'd seriously be ok with them never releasing an album again, or maybe waiting like 5 years to do so. Then they could tour the shit out of all the reissues and play awesome setlists with no new material that are full of rare tracks, really deep cuts and covers. I know the more they play the rarer tracks the less special they become, but I just want to hear "Dirty Frank" and "Leatherman"

Re: Pearl Jam

Originally Posted by kreutz2112

I'd seriously be ok with them never releasing an album again, or maybe waiting like 5 years to do so. Then they could tour the shit out of all the reissues and play awesome setlists with no new material that are full of rare tracks, really deep cuts and covers. I know the more they play the rarer tracks the less special they become, but I just want to hear "Dirty Frank" and "Leatherman"

Re: Pearl Jam

Vs. / Vitalogy Box Set • LP, CD, Composition Book, Cassette and more
After the massive success of Pearl Jam’s debut album Ten in 1991, the Seattle band went on a dominant run of records matched by few in the history of rock music. How do you follow-up one of the biggest debuts ever? 1993 brought Vs. — an aggressive set with gems like “Animal” and “Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town.” The band’s first collaboration with longtime producer Brendan O’Brien, Vs. set a record for first week sales that held until 1998.

The group’s next album, 1994′s Vitalogy, was Pearl Jam’s first effort after the death of grunge godfather Kurt Cobain. There were no longer questions about the band performing within his shadow, and the album demonstrated a new environment of rawness and eclecticism. The band wrote most of the material while touring under Vs. and performing to arena-sized crowds, yet the record really stands out for its commitment to experimentation as well as the group’s expertise at crafting poignant ballads.

For this week’s RCRD Deal, we are offering the ultimate box set for Vs. and Vitalogy fans that includes both albums in deluxe LP and CD editions, as well as PJ Live From The Orpheum on vinyl and CD, a composition book, cassette and more. Here’s the full list of items included:

Re: Pearl Jam

It's a rock n roll documentary by Cameron Crowe. Did you really have any doubt it would be awesome?

well theres this....

Cameron Crowe loves Pearl Jam almost as much as he loves Cameron Crowe.

As his irritating new film, “Pearl Jam Twenty,” attempts to document — rockument? — the great Seattle band’s two-decade history, Crowe can’t decide whether he wants to play narrator, interviewer, insider, subject or superfan. The “Almost Famous” director pops in and out of this thing like a self-congratulatory Waldo, happily tagging along with his pals instead of doing the messy work of asking tough questions.

The story begins not with the band, but with Crowe moving to Seattle in the ’80s as a hungry young rock journo. Hypnotized by the ripples of primordial sludge that would spawn grunge, he befriends guitarist Stone Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament — and spends the next two hours glossing over Pearl Jam’s knotted internecine dramas, either out of flattery or laziness.

What a drag. Here we have the band that never trusted the media to get its story right — and now that story is being muddled for posterity.

Yet somehow, only one archival Kurt Cobain interview manages to penetrate the bubble of “Pearl Jam Twenty.” The only people Crowe talks to are the current members of Pearl Jam, Chris Cornell of Seattle buddy-band Soundgarden, a roadie, a few fans and . . . himself. No parents, no wives, no friends, no rivals, no critics, not one of the band’s four former drummers.

Crowe unfolds his tale chronologically, but vault footage keeps popping up without a time stamp, forcing us to guess the year based on frontman Eddie Vedder’s haircut.

For viewers who missed Pearl Jam’s thrilling splashdown in the Clinton years, this will be a perplexing introduction. Stories of the band’s rapid ascent, its suspicion of fame and its heated public fight with Ticketmaster are all retold in detail here, but the musicians aren’t asked to do much serious 21st-century reflection on them.

The most frustrating flashes of what could have been arrive when Vedder explains the group’s early songwriting process. “A lot of my job is taking what they bring and turning it into something,” he says. “If I close my eyes, where am I? What does this music mean?”

That thought illuminates this band’s entire creative trajectory. The first two Pearl Jam albums still bristle with a restlessness that the band has never fully reclaimed. Here, we see Vedder taking the reins, which causes the band to grow uncertain of itself and one another. But as soon as the rift surfaces, Crowe sweeps it under the rug, inexplicably flashing back to Ament’s childhood in Montana.

Most of the film’s other non sequiturs star Crowe himself. The band’s boozy performance at a party celebrating “Singles” — the 1992 rom-com that Crowe directed and Pearl Jam appeared in — is presented as a head-checking turning point for the band. Dubious. The director is also happy to poke fun at the media hoopla surrounding the group but pats himself on the back for a Rolling Stone cover story he penned about them in ’93.

He’s a lousy journalist here, consistently allergic to touchy subjects. When Vedder mentions his birth father — a family friend who died before Vedder knew they were related, inspiring some of the band’s best-loved songs — Crowe doesn’t ask him another word about it. When guitarist Mike McCready confesses to problems with addiction and a blackout on “Saturday Night Live,” Crowe doesn’t inquire about the fallout. When the band makes a big stink at the Grammys in 1996, Crowe doesn’t ask why they were even there in the first place. When the band laments the nine deaths that occurred during a concert at Denmark’s Roskilde Festival in 2000, and Gossard says the tragedy forced the band to change its approach, Crowe doesn’t ask how.

And with Pearl Jam’s second decade squeezed into the final quarter of the film, Crowe fails to illustrate exactly how the band survived such a tumultuous rise while cultivating one of the most loyal fan bases in rock history.

Don’t lose your voice screaming at your flat-screen over this. If you want to reconnect with the Pearl Jam of yore, suss out a copy of “Ten (Legacy Edition),” the 2009 *re-release of the band’s debut.

The second disc is a remixed version of the album that scrapes away all of the gooey chorus effects and boomy reverbs that were spackled onto their songs so they could compete in the high-gloss radio market. It’s a revelation. You can finally hear who this band really was.

Maybe in another 20 years, someone will make a documentary that does the same.

Re: Pearl Jam

more free stuff -

Pearl Jam Offer Free Download Of 9/11 Toronto Show

Pearl Jam is offering up their entire 27 song performance in Toronto that took place on the ten year anniversary of 9/11. The set featuring Pearl Jam classics as well as a 12-minute version of ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’ featuring Neil Young is available via Google Music.

Pearl Jam is giving back to all those who missed out on their Toronto gig on 9/11/11 by allowing them to download the entire show for free. The setlist featured a wide range of hits like ‘Betterman’ and ‘Alive’ to first ever performances like their soulful rendition of (pre-Pearl Jam band) Mother Love Bone’s ‘Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns.’ Neil Young even made his way to the stage for a super extended jam of ‘Rockin’ in the Free World.’ The concert is available on Google music, follow this link to get your free download.

Pearl Jam is currently wrapping up their planned tour dates with some shows south of the border. According to Audio Ink Radio, guitarist Mike McCready said recently that the band plans to finish recording their new album (which was last reported to be “about halfway done”) in March of next year. Drummer Matt Cameron is splitting time between Pearl Jam and the reunited Soundgarden, who also have a new album in the works that is expected in Spring of 2012.